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A Rock and a Hard Place
Summary ;From the book jacket :Under the best circumstances, terraforming is a tough, dangerous task that pits the hardiest of pioneers against an unforgiving environment. When the terraformers on the planet Paradise fall behind schedule, commander Riker is given temporary leave from the USS Enterprise™ and sent to assist. :''Riker's replacement on the Starship Enterprise is a volatile officer named Stone whose behavior soon raises questions about his ability and his judgment. Meanwhile, Commander Riker has become enmeshed in a life and struggle with Paradise's brutal landscape. However, he soon learns that not all of the planet's dangers are natural in origin -- as he comes face to face with Paradise's greatest danger and most hideous secret. Memorable Quotes :"The transporter is the great equalizer ... And I'm in charge of it all. Y'see, to me, everybody is just molecules, that's all. And nobody's molecules are more important than anybody else''s."'' -- Chief O'Brien (p. 102) :"You're judged on your handshake. The handshake was originally a way of making sure your opponent wasn't carrying a weapon. But it's also a way of showing that you can defend yourself without a weapon." -- Quintin Stone (p. 45) :" When you go outside procedures and it blows up in your face, you're an idiot. When you go outside procedures and it works, you're an original thinker" -- Quintin Stone (p. 139) Background *This novel, fairly uncommonly, has an original character (Commdr. Quintin Stone) as one of the protagonists, the other being Commdr. Riker. *It should be noted that some of Stone's traits are similar to those of Lt. Sean Hawk from the novel Rogue by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin - in particular, photographic memory, which is certainly atypical for a human character. Their personalities, however, are completely different. Characters ;William Riker ;Quintin Stone : Starfleet executive officer, Commander Riker's "replacement" during his assignment, the real purpose of his presence on the Enterprise is to receive some discipline under Captain Picard. Rising through the ranks of Starfleet, he was considered intelligent, charismatic, and potentially an excellent leader - one of Starfleet's best and brightest. More recently, however, he has proven to be disrespectful of authority, scarred (figuratively and literally) and probably psychopathic (this last term describes most of his actions). If Capt. Picard and Counselor Troi can't set him on a more useful path, it's likely that his days in Starfleet will be short-lived. ::The character of Quintin Stone, a scar-faced maverick, will be reincarnated in one of Peter David's later series; the character of Mackenzie Calhoun in ''Star Trek: New Frontier shares a large number of character traits with Stone.'' ;Deanna Troi : The counselor once again demonstrates her psychic link with Will Riker when he subconsciously calls out to her. This occurs twice in this novel, both times when Riker is near death. ;Beverly Crusher : Towards the end of the book, a crewmember mentions the return of Dr. Beverly Crusher. This places the novel near the beginning of Season 3, after the departure of Dr. Pulaski and Dr. Crusher's return. ;Andrew Borjas : Captain ;Jenny ;Buchanan ;Vernon Detwiller ;Tinker ;D'angelo ;Scully ;Jansen ;Sweeney ;Paul Estin References ;[[USS Monitor|USS Monitor (NCC-61826)]] ;USS Nimitz : Federation starship, of Captain Andrew Borjas ;Paradise : Definitely a misnomer for this inhospitable planet. Paradise is best described by the term "frozen wasteland". Commander Riker is chosen for this assignment partly due to his upbringing in Alaska, the other being the need to rotate in a "problem officer" in his place on the Enterprise. ;Starlight : The city of the terraformers on Paradise. So far, it is the only place on Paradise where weather conditions are generally tolerable. Venturing outside its limits is highly dangerous. This is compounded by the fact that the usability of transport, scanning and communication equipment is severely limited on the rest of the planet. ;Wild Things : Part wolf, part husky, all survival. These dog-like beasts (one is depicted on the cover) were genetically engineered specifically to survive Paradise's harsh conditions. When they were declared a failure, they were to have been destroyed; however, the majority of them managed to escape, with dire consequences. The Wild Things are dedicated to a pack mentality: though there is no naturally occurring food source on Paradise, the pack nonetheless survived by cannibalizing its weaker members. Rock and a Hard Place sv:A Rock and a Hard Place